Mr. Merwin on Poetry and environmental activism as posted by Brigitte Perreault

You have been a student of Buddhism for many, many years
and still spend time in meditation every day. Planting palm trees, writing
poetry, tending a garden are meditation in action. How has your practice
informed your life?

WM: Practice is attention to one’s own mind,
and necessarily informs every

aspect of my life.

BP: Ecological issues

Elizabeth Kolbert writes of the ‘Sixth Extinction’. Your
poem ‘For a Coming Extinction’ was written in 1967. Do you still grow seed sand
plant a tree? Is another poem forthcoming?

WM: I no longer cultivate seeds, due to my
poor eyesight. I do still plant a few trees. I have never known when or if
there would be another poem. They come from the unknown.

BP: Technology

In our era of technological dependence and obsession, do
you still write with a

pen?

WM: Yes.

BP: The future of the Conservancy

How will the Merwin Conservancy create a space for young
poets and artists in which they can pursue their creative visions?

WM: We are working out connections with the
community, with a series of poets, writers and naturalists who come and give talks
and readings.

BP: PERREAULT Magazine

What would you like to tell our readers to inspire them
to ‘get involved’?

Would you like to tell them with a poem?

WM: I would love it if The Merwin Conservancy
led visitors to think, “I could do something like this,” and they began by planting
a tree. I hope that all my poems

encourage people to feel an intimate relation with every
other form of life.